


Late Shift

by Chocoholic_Shinigami



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Pre-Slash, cuteness, sleep deprive armin, sorta fluff, there isn't real action though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 20:19:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8259367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocoholic_Shinigami/pseuds/Chocoholic_Shinigami
Summary: What everyone forgets to warn you about having independence is that it comes with loss of sleep. Lots of it. Armin often finds himself running on four to three hours of sleep. He’s gotten pretty good at it. On this particular day, he is practically falling asleep at the cash register. The art of conserving energy, however well practiced, has it’s flaws.





	

**Author's Note:**

> When you really should work on your science fair project but WinMin won't leave your head.   
> This is sorta fluffy, but they don't really do anything

Armin has been working at a near by cafe to pay off his student loans. Being able to rely on parental fortune was never a luxury he could take part in. He knew for a fact that his grandfather needed more financial support than he did.

 

What everyone forgets to warn you about having independence is that it comes with loss of sleep. Lots of it. Armin often finds himself running on four to three hours of sleep. He’s gotten pretty good at it. 

 

On this particular day, he is practically falling asleep at the cash register. The art of conserving energy, however well practiced, has it’s flaws. 

 

He’d been told multiple times by his boss, Hanji Zoe, that he doesn’t need to be exceptionally perky, so long as he doesn’t scare away any customers. They claim that Armin has enough of a cute factor to keep customers coming, whatever that means. 

 

Good thing they were pretty loose about this, because the only thing keeping Armin standing is the minimal amount of caffeine in his system. 

 

The much too cheerful bell on the door chimed, announcing the arrival of yet another customer. It wasn’t necessarily rush hour, but there were a good amount of people hopping in and out. Armin doesn’t even fully glance up at the next man who walks up to the cash register. 

 

“Good evening, what can I get for you?” Armin said, trying to keep the sleep out of his voice. 

 

“I’ll have a large dark.” 

 

Is it stupid to call a voice sexy? If Armin weren’t half asleep, he’d probably opt for yes. Obviously that isn’t the case. 

 

Armin’s head very indiscreetly snapped up. In his groggy state, he is unable to stop himself from openly oogling the customer standing in front of him. The man standing before him was tall and you could tell he was very muscular even though he was in a full suit. He had a very prominent jawline and cheekbones and intense eyebrows. Armin was able to regain his senses enough to copy his order onto the cash register. 

 

“Can I have your name for the order?” He really hopes his voice didn’t sound as squeaky as it felt. 

 

“Erwin.” He smirked amusedly. Armin blushed, belatedly realizing that he had been staring. 

 

* * *

 

 

Later on in his shift, once the amount of customers had largely trickled down, Hanji leaned on the counter where Armin is fazing out.

 

“Sooooo,” they said. They had a terrifying look in her eyes. Well, terrifying to Armin. “I see you’ve met my friend Erwin.”

 

Armin could feel his face immediately heat up. 

 

“See, I always knew you two would get along perfectly! I’m so good at pairing up people, aren’t I?” They continued to go on about how the two of them were ‘written in the stars.’ Armin’s face was growing more and more red.

 

“I’m too awkward for my own good,” Armin mumbled at a volume he had thought Hanji wouldn’t have been able to hear. 

 

“Oh don’t worry,” guess they could hear him, “he finds that type of thing cute.” Armin groaned.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Next day, well night. Armin had the late shift, which he always hates. Thursday’s aren’t necessarily a prime coffee day. He has been spending most of his shift trying to distract himself with random things to keep boredom away in between customers. 

 

Armin definitely wasn’t disapointed when Erwin didn’t show during his shift this time. It’s not like he wouldn’ve known his shift schedule anyway. Although, from the way she was talking, Hanji very well might’ve told him exactly when Armin was going to be there. It sounds completely in character of her. 

 

Even if he did show up, Armin had no idea what he would actually say. ‘Oh, hi person I don’t know but totally oogled yesterday. Has anyone ever told you that your eyebrows are super fucking sexy?’

 

As it began to get closer to closing time, Armin started to feel more and more on edge. This would always happen when he took the last shift. Even though he doesn’t live very far from the cafe, walking home alone never seemed safe this late. Especially given how femininely he looked. 

 

It was about twenty minutes until closing when the bell signaling a customer chimed. That customer happened to be Erwin. Armin tried not to visibly perk up at the sight of him. He barely knew this man, jeez. 

 

“A bit late to be getting coffee, don’t you think?” Armin said lightly. 

 

“Nothing like a midnight pick me before spending the entire night working,” Erwin said.

 

“Tell me about it.” Armin laughed slightly. “You want the same as yesterday?”

 

“Yes please.” Erwin fishes out his wallet to pay for the drink before taking a seat at the counter. “So, Hanji tells me you’re a student?” 

 

Of course Hanji had been telling Erwin things about him. “Yeah, I am.” Come on Armin, he thought, you’ve been able to make conversation before. Did you turn off that part of your brain or something? “Gives a bit of an explanation to me taking the worst shift times ever.” Erwin chuckled. Armin tried his hardest not to think of how low and velvety his laugh was. Tried being a key word. 

 

“So, um, what do you do for a living?” Armin said awkwardly after handing him his coffee.

 

Erwin seemed to contemplate this question for a moment. “I’m what you could call an unorthodox journalist.” Well that’s not sketchy at all. Although, Armin also found it kind of attractive, so maybe he doesn’t have good judgement right now. 

 

“What are you majoring in?” Erwin asked. 

 

“English,” said Armin. “Minoring in creative writing.” Once he said that, he was practically waiting for Erwin to say that creative writing won’t do him any good. You won’t be able to pay for anything, you’ll turn into a starving artist, blah blah blah. He got that from almost everyone he told about his writing aspirations.

 

“Do you intend to go into the writing industry?” 

 

“Yeah, maybe, I’m not really sure,” Armin said uncertainly, fumbling with the mugs he was cleaning.

 

“Writing is a,” Erwin paused, collecting his thoughts. Here it comes. “Interesting route.  I had wanted to go into creative writing before but always found myself lacking the skills. It’s a lot about luck but,” he made eye contact with Armin, “you seem like the type of person who might be able to make it.” 

 

Well that was a first. Armin wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that. “T-thank you. I, uh, I hope you’re right.” Erwin simply smiled. 

 

It was ten minutes till closing, Armin began to stack chairs on the tables and sweep down the floor. Normally he would start kicking customers out around now. This was a day for exceptions. 

 

“Look,” said Armin, stopping in what he was doing to turn to Erwin, who raised an eyebrow at him. “I want to apologize for staring at you yesterday and acting all weirdly.” 

 

Erwin broke down laughing. 

 

“Okay then,” said Armin, honestly not getting what was making the man laugh so much. 

 

“From the look on your face,” Erwin said once he had composed himself enough to speak, “I thought I had done something to offend you.” Armin’s face reddened. “It’s fine, really.” 

 

Erwin was still laughing slightly, and soon Armin found himself laughing as well. 

 

Armin glanced at the clock. “Welp, the shop is now closed and I gotta head home. You could stay here if you want, but it gets creepy after closing.” He grabbed his messenger bag from on the other side of the counter and slung it around his shoulder. His nervousness with walking through the streets this late had sprung back up.

 

Erwin smiled warmly. “Here, I’ll walk you to your car.”

 

“I don’t exactly have one. I, uh, usually walk home.” 

 

“In that case I’ll drive you,” he said simply. 

 

“You really don’t have to—“

 

“What if I want to?” 

 

Armin gave in, unable to come up with a argument against it. He locked up the shop and followed Erwin to his car. 

 

Wait, Armin thought, this is exactly how all those slasher movies Eren made him watch went. What if Erwin is an insane serial killer? But Hanji knows him, right? To be honest though, Hanji of all people _would_ be the one to have a friend who is a serial killer…

 

Calm down, Armin. You’re just as safe with Erwin as you would be would be walking home by yourself. 

 

“Do you always walk yourself home on nights when you have a late shift?” Erwin knocked Armin out of his inner monologue. 

 

“Well, I, uh, don’t have much of an alternative.” 

 

Erwin must have been able to tell that Armin wasn’t comfortable with talking about it, which was true. Armin’s wasn’t in the best financial situation and doesn’t like to brag about it. Hence the student loans and lack of car. 

 

“So, Armin, what are you thinking about doing after college?” Armin was grateful for the change of subject. He’s also grateful that said subject change is very normal assuming, it took off of the serial killer vibe. 

 

“I don’t really have a lot of that figured out yet,” he said sheepishly. He takes a moment to think about that, sort through what he should share and what he shouldn’t. “I want to travel the world, and maybe write about that. It’s a bit ambitious, sure, but it’s still my dream.”

 

Erwin pulled up in front of Armin’s apartment building. Armin scooped up his bag again and exited the car. Whaddaya know, he didn’t die.

 

“Thank you so much for the ride,” Armin said. 

 

“Here,” Erwin handed Armin a slip of paper. He glanced down at it; there was a phone number scrawled out. “For if you ever get stuck with the late shift and without a ride home.” 


End file.
